Written by: You finally did it! You’ve posted a blog post on your company website. The thing on your to-do list for the past few months that you simply did not have time to do is finally done.
Well, we’ve got some good and bad news for you. First, the bad: you’re not done just yet. But the good? We’ve got your check list right here. Read on for four tips for promoting your company blog post to get more mileage out of everything you write.
1. Publish to social media
The first step is to promote your post to your social media platforms several times for each platform. Use different lead-ins and keywords to reach different readers, and to avoid being too repetitive. Using keywords on all platforms, hashtags on Twitter, mentions on Facebook, and tags on Google+ to promote your posts allows the post to show up in different social media streams, meaning it gets seen by more people than just your followers.
For example, here are a few different ways we might promote this very post in just one day:
- Think you’re done when you hit #publish? Think again! #Promoting your published posts, from @rickwhittington: http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/4-things-need-publish-business-blog-posts/
- @rickwhittington's take on the never-ending #todolist when you post a company blog: http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/4-things-need-publish-business-blog-posts/
Google +
- Writing a blog post means more than posting it online. Here are four ways to get the most out of your blog post: http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/4-things-need-publish-business-blog-posts/ #blogging #socialmedia #marketing
- If you don’t love writing blog posts, have you ever considered writing less and promoting more? Here are four ways to do it: http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/4-things-need-publish-business-blog-posts/ #socialmarketing #writing #PR
Facebook and LinkedIn
- @rickwhittington’s most recent blog post on promoting your blog posts: http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/4-things-need-publish-business-blog-posts/
An added bonus step? Set up an RSS feed for your blog and use HootSuite’s RSS Promotion setting to automatically tweet your blog updates whenever they happen. That will save you one step, at least!
We also use HubSpot's social publishing tool to schedule social messages in advance so we don't have to be by the computer all day.
2. Email your blog subscribers and brand evangelists
Your network is powerful -- so let them do their thing! When you publish a post on a topic that you know is of interest to a member of your network, send them a personal email and let them know about the post.
In the email, share why you think they might like it, and ask them to share it with their network if they find it valuable. You’d be surprised how much your network is willing to help share your message or idea when they think it’s a good one.
Worried about coming off too promotional? Here’s an example of what to write to keep it short, sweet, and helpful:
Good morning!
I hope you don’t mind my sharing this directly, but I recently published the post “4 Things You Need to Do After Your Publish Your Business Blog Posts” on my website and I thought you might find it particularly interesting based on your recent LinkedIn update about starting a company blog. If you like it, I’d really appreciate your sharing it with your network. And let me know if you’d like to talk about it -- I’d love to answer any questions you might have on writing and promoting company blog posts!
Many thanks,
Rick
3. Create a slideshare of your post
Another avenue for reaching an audience is to create a SlideShare of your post. Sixty million monthly visitors and 130 million pageviews means you’ll get new eyes on your content and possibly help someone understand something that was difficult for them before.
Not only will this help a whole new audience engage with your idea, but you have another example for your portfolio and website to promote.
4. Create a video summary of your blog post and put on YouTube
Hit the homerun by including a video interpretation of your blog post and posting it to YouTube. Many people simple find visual representations more interesting or easier to access than the written word, and many of your customers are naturally curious about you. Video summaries create the perfect storm of interest, information, and getting your message across to the people who need to hear it.
It may seem like this is a lot of promotion for a little old blog post... but by promoting each of your posts with all of your power, you might be able to get away with writing less. What matters is getting your message to reach the right people-- prospective clients, future partners, and everyone in between.
Do you spend more time writing or promoting? Which do you find takes more time and energy?
